Private sanitation workers' strike continues to affect neighborhoods

As a sanitation workers' strike from a private company enters its third week, trash continues to pile up in some Memphis and suburban neighborhoods, and another union leader is accusing Memphis officials of threatening city-employed workers who refuse to cross the picket line.

Nearly 175 sanitation workers for Phoenix-based Republic Services did not show up for work on April 16 in a strike organized by Teamsters Local 984. The union claims Republic Services broke federal law by cutting paychecks of commercial and recycling drivers says the company has spied on workers and their union representatives.

Republic Services denies the allegations and said Thursday it added 65 more drivers to its temporary ranks and is dedicating three to four extra crews to get collections caught up.

"We had a driver for every route this morning, and have additional drivers that will go back out on the street this afternoon and will work until dark to get caught up," Roger Lawrence, general manager of Republic Services, wrote in a statement Thursday morning. "Extra crews will be assigned to the routes around Parkway Village and Fox Meadows."

That statement comes a day after a news conference by Memphis City Council member Harold Collins saying citizens in his district, particularly Fox Meadows, complained to him that their trash had not been collected in two weeks.

Collins said the company told city staff in it had a plan in place to get all of the trash collected but "none of this is happening."

"So, we need to figure out what our next steps are going to be instead of relying on Republic to do what they say they're doing even though we know they are not doing it," Collins said.

He suggested reviewing the company's current contract with the city or fining them for every day they fail to deliver on their contracted promises.

In the suburbs, each town is handling collection delays differently.

Germantown officials are asking residents to be patient until yard waste collection returns to normal.

Germantown Neighborhood Coordinator Sherrye Rhea has said replacement drivers from around the country are filling in to minimize the disruptions. "Because these drivers are unfamiliar with Germantown routes, some homes may experience delays or misses," she said in a release. Yard debris collection in Germantown is significantly behind but Germantown officials urged residents to leave their trash in place until it is collected.

Collierville's solid waste department workers have assisted replacement drivers two days this week. The town's workers picked up all the recycling Wednesday.

"We want to make sure the misses are minimal or none at all," said Collierville Public Services Director Bill Kilp. "We hope they will resolve their issues with their employees soon so that things can go back to normal."

Since the town of Collierville contracted with Republic for recycling three years ago, Kilp said the town only has one recycling truck and has "improvised" with solid waste trucks.

"We definitely recycled everything we picked up."

Unlike Germantown which has contracted out all of its collections to different vendors, Collierville still has in-house garbage collection, yard waste and appliance pick up.

In Lakeland, City Engineer Philip Stuckert said the town is getting double the calls from residents about delayed garbage pickup. While some have been calling City Hall, Stuckert said the city's contract directs callers to Republic. Replacement workers have been focusing on garbage and recycling and the yard debris is just now being collected.

Back in Memphis, AFSCME Local 1733 executive director Chad Johnson said his union never supported the Teamster strike, never supported outsourcing sanitation jobs to Republic Services and is concerned about the jobs and the safety of the striking workers.

He said Memphis Public Works director Dwan Gilliom "has issued a command that any city solid waste employee (who) does not cross the Teamster/Republic picket line, despite their concerns for their personal safety, will be disciplined up to and including a ‘Major Infraction', which could result in termination,"

Gilliom could not be reached for comment.

Johnson also said he received many complaints that Teamsters were threatening city workers away from the picket lines during a strike in January.